Cirrus opened his eyes and found himself standing inside a royal bedchamber as Thundaga had Gem Stone pined to the ground on the far end of the room. With the princess glaring daggers at him from across the room, Cirrus started to feel nervous as he looked down at his hoof to see his shield attached and set in the passive position. When he saw this, he started to hear Gem speak from the ground with an exhausted and weak voice, “C-Commander… don’t... she’ll kill you…. run now… run while you sti-”
Before she could finish, Thundaga tightened her grip on her throat as she looked down at Gem Stone and spoke with an intimidatingly quiet tone, “Silence… the adults are talking…”
With that, Thundaga released Gem Stone and stepped off the weak mare as she turned towards Cirrus and spoke, “I admire your courage commander… but this game ends now.”
Not knowing anything else to say, Cirrus replied, “I… I don’t want to fight you.”
Thundaga readied her sword as she replied, “Then… you will die!”
With that, Thundaga darted towards Cirrus as he took a step back in worry as he quickly tried to think of how to react to her attack. As she raised her weapon to attack, Cirrus’s reflexes took control as he stomped his hoof against the ground as hard as he could causing the lock on the shield to deactivate leaving the spring loaded blade to rotate around while he lunged forward at the last second. Then, Cirrus closed his eyes as he thrusted his shield forward just as the blade locked into place, leaving everything around them to go silent. With the room now quiet, Cirrus started to feel a warm feeling running down his hoof as he opened his eyes to a horrible sight.
The feeling on his hoof, was blood running down his weapon. Slowly, Cirrus looked up his weapon as he saw that every part of the blade, from his hoof to the tip was deep inside Thundaga’s chest, as he slowly looked up at her face to see a combination of anger, and shock in her expression. Thundaga with her sword still raised in the air slowly lowered it as her expression of anger faded to a content smile. Confused by her odd choice of expression, Cirrus stared in shock as Thundaga’s smile was soon accompanied by tears, “C-Cirrus?…”
Cirrus didn’t reply, instead he only stared silently in horror as she continued, “Cirrus… now… I… I can…”
With that Thundaga released her sword as she leaned to the side and slowly fell to the ground as the sound of her swords hitting the marble floor echoed through the room.
As soon as Thundaga hit the ground, she stopped breathing as Cirrus stared in horror of what he had done. With a feeling of shame to great for him to speak, Cirrus slowly looked at his now exposed shield as Thundaga’s blood still dripped from the blade as it hit the ground with light, faint taps. All of a sudden, Cirrus started to tremble as his eyes, shifted to Thundaga’s face, to his blade, to her wound and back to her face which still held a content smile with tears in her eyes. With this, Cirrus was locked in place as if time had frozen for him. The feeling of guilt, disgust, and horror was so immense that he wanted to throw up… but he couldn’t. All he could do, was remain in place as if this eternal moment was all that was left for him. Then, he finally regained his ability to move as he took a step back from Thundaga’s body as her blood started to spread across the floor beneath her, covering the white marble as if it were paint immortalizing this moment on canvas for his guilt to sink in further. As he stepped back in what was still horror, Cirrus accidently bumped into somepony as his fear took control leaving him to turn around and strike at whoever was behind him in a terrified swing.
As he attacked, all he heard was the clashing of blades as Commander Bolt stood behind him and used his fabled sword to stop the attack as he spoke with a serious look on his face, “There… now you know where, and when you will strike. Then, and only then, will you ever have the chance to beat her. Any other time… and you, and everypony you care about will die.”
Slowly, everything around him accept for Thundaga’s body and her sword vanished, as Cirrus replied with his body still trembling in shock, “This… none of this… is real?”
Both ponies lowered their weapons as Commander Bolt sheathed his on his side and replied, “No… not yet anyways. This event will take place when you come face to face with Thundaga. And when it does, this will be your only chance to kill her.”
As Commander Bolt looked down at Thundaga, Cirrus asked, “How… how can you look so carelessly on your dead daughter without even the slightest hint of remorse.”
Still looking at her, Commander Bolt replied with disgust, “This monster… is no daughter of mine. Maybe once… but not anymore.”
Cirrus shook his head, “She is still your daughter… her blood is the same as yours.” He pointed at Thundaga’s sword, “Why else would she carry your sword?... she cherishes the life you led… doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Commander Bolt looked at Thundaga’s sword and drew the same sword on his side as he looked at the cutiemarks painted on the blade, “It does… but that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters now, is that you kill her before she brings more pain on the kingdom.”
Cirrus became annoyed as Commander Bolt started trotting away from him, “You’re Commander Bolt!… the legend of the Nightmare legion, and the hero of Eden’s Kiss… how can a hero like you, who saved millions, just cast her aside like that?”
Commander Bolt stopped trotting as he looked at the ground and smiled, “Hero?... you know what… I’ve heard that word a thousand times when ponies talk about me. But did anypony ever tell you,” He looked at Cirrus with an annoyed look, “I have never called myself a hero… Not once… When ponies talk of me it’s always hero this, and savior that… but before Eden’s kiss, do you know what ponies said?”
Commander Bolt turned completely to Cirrus as he started trotting towards him and replied with an angry tone, “Let me tell you the words used… Murderer, warmonger, traitor, hypocrite, Nightmare Moon’s right hoof, the Bolt of the Nightmare legion, Commander of the Night and storm… or the so commonly said… monster. And you know?”
He continued in anger, “They were right… and that’s why, I died. Commander Bolt… Died. But you know what? After I left that life behind and started to travel Equestria, I started to see myself as a normal pony again. But even if I saw a change in myself… everypony else continued to call me the same thing that I practically took to heart… A monster. Well… here I am. And as this monster is telling you, the next commander to kill an even worse monster before she has a chance to harm any more civilians.”
Hearing the seriousness of his voice, Cirrus looked at the ground and thought to himself for a second before looking back up and replying, “I… I can’t do this… there has to be another way.”
Commander Bolt sighed, “This is the only way I can see this story ending happily. Even if it’s a bitter sweet ending, it’s an ending that I'd rather see, than the alternative.”
With that Commander Bolt turned to trot away as Cirrus stopped him, “Commander?... is… is this really the way it must end?... or… is it just your suggestion?”
Commander Bolt stopped as he replied, “This is what I would do… I can’t tell you how this war will end… because in all honesty… I don’t know. You’re the commander here, so only you can choose what happens next. In the end, all we can do is look inside of ourselves and remember who we are. I was a soldier who fought to protect the kingdom… Who are you?”
Commander Bolt smiled peacefully as he continued, “Goodbye Commander Halo… Since the war will be ending tomorrow regardless of success or failer… I guess this is the last time we would need to speak. Whatever your choice, I wish you luck.”
With that, everything started to get brighter as Cirrus reached out to try to stop him, “Commander wai-”
All of a sudden, Cirrus found himself laying in his bed with his hoof raised high in the air as he sighed, “I… um… goodbye, Commander Bolt.”
“Commander Bolt?... so, he has been talking to you then hasn’t he?”
Surprised by the unexpected voice, Cirrus quickly looked to the entrance of the room as he could barely make out the light grey stripes on Zine’s coat as the dark enchanter leaned against the entrance to the secret room. When he noticed Zine, Cirrus looked at the clock as he asked, “Zine? It’s barely past two? What are you doing here?”
Zine looked at his hoof and tried to act casual, “Couldn’t sleep… Something has been troubling me lately, and now… I know that you are facing the same thing. A message from beyond the grave that is… difficult to hear. The question however… is whether your message is the same as mine, or something different?”
Cirrus sighed as he rubbed his head in frustration, “Zine… If I told you, that the only way to stop Thundaga was to kill her… what would you do?”
Understanding Cirrus’s irritation, Zine replied, “Then I’d kill her… of course I’m playing the scenario as if I were you, and you were Commander Bolt. I myself, could never raise my hoof to a mare who spared my life. It’s a… Zebra thing.”
Cirrus nodded, “That’s right, she stopped your execution didn’t she. Well, Commander Bolt has been telling me that killing her is my best option.”
Zine nodded his head, “I see… and that’s… bad?”
Cirrus nodded as he replied with a frustrated tone, “Of course it is! Killing her wou-”
Realizing his voice was a little louder than it should be, Cirrus calmed himself down with a sigh as he continued, “Zine… what should I do? I can’t just kill her and be done with it? Not when I know that Princess Umbra is still in there somewhere.”
Zine ignored Cirrus’s frustration as he gave him a curious look and replied, “Princess… Umbra… Who is that?”
Cirrus replied with confusion, “Wait, you mean you don’t know? Princess Umbra is Thundaga’s real name… or, who she used to be or something like that… I’m still a little fuzzy on the details… but I guess Princess Umbra would be described as… Thundaga’s kindness.”
Zine nodded his head as he replied, “Ah… so you don’t want to kill her because of the kindness that Thundaga has then, is that what you’re saying?”
Cirrus rubbed his head as he replied, “I guess that’s one way of putting it. What I’m saying is I can’t just kill her when I know for a fact that she isn’t all bad… but… that’s what the commander suggests… Zine… what should I do?”
Zine thought to himself as he smiled, “Hmm… in my opinion, you’re the Commander of Peace. It should be natural that you aren’t meant to kill anypony, period. But then again, going against the words of a legend… that seems to be an unwise decision as well. Perhaps… this should be placed in fate’s hooves.”
Cirrus was confused, “What?”
Zine explained, “You can’t kill her… but there is nothing that says nopony else can. Perhaps this is just something that must fall into place. However… there is nothing that says her death is absolute neither.”
Cirrus gave him an annoyed look as he replied, “Okay… so what should I do then?”
Zine smiled, “If there is good in her… then perhaps you should remind her of that. After all, when your mind becomes cluttered with stress, most tend to… lose themselves. Perhaps you should remind her of who she is… but first… I would advise that you remind yourself of who you are.”
Zine stopped leaning against the wall as he turned to leave, “Anyways… I think I’ve given myself a reason to fall asleep now. So if I were you, I'd get some rest too. Tomorrow, we practice the Lightning Orb.”
Remembering something he said earlier, Cirrus tried to stop him, “Wait… you mentioned messages from beyond the grave. What message did you get?”
With no intention of answering, Zine waved dismissively, “Good night Commander… I will see you in the morning.”
Before anything more could be said, Zine had left the room as Cirrus decided to let it go, as he laid back down, rolled over and went back to sleep.
The next morning, Cirrus, Zine, and Gem Stone were in the library training. Zine, sat quietly in the corner of the room, while Gem Stone and Cirrus stood in the open area as Cirrus spoke, “I don’t have a problem with the lighting… I can do it. It’s just… going to be a little hard is all.”
Gem Sighed, “Commander if you can’t do it, you don’t have to push yourself.”
Cirrus shook his head, “I can… I… just need a little more time to um… get ready.”
Annoyed with his stalling Gem looked at Zine, “Hey? Do you have any advice for him? Some… magical remedy for getting over this?”
Zine didn’t reply, instead he continued sitting in deep thought as Gem spoke up, “Zine?... Zine!”
Snapping him out of it, Zine looked up, “Hm?...”
Gem Stone repeated, “The commander needs help getting over his fear. Do you have any advice to help him?”
Zine looked at the commander and replied, “Don’t be afraid sir…” he looked back, “Well I did all I can do.”
Cirrus gave Zine an annoyed look as he replied, “Gee… thanks, that really made a difference.”
Zine nodded his head but replied without an expression, “Anytime.”
Noticing his passive mood, Gem asked, “Um… Zine? Are you okay? You seem distracted.”
Zine shook his head, “Just passing the time in thought.”
Before Gem could reply, Madam Melody trotted into the room as she spoke up, “Bonjour, I am back from ze market and I also received ze package from General Dash.”
Zine stood up and trotted to her has he took the package and replied, “I'll take that thank you.”
As Zine took the package he opened it to find a small bag of black seeds, and two notes. One from General Dash, and another from Spike. Zine took both the bag and the note from Spike as he handed the other note to Cirrus, “Here you are, this is for you.”
With that Zine went back to the chair he was sitting is as he opened the bag and smiled, “Good he found them.”
As Cirrus started reading the note from General Dash, Gem looked at Zine and asked, “Hey? What’s in the bag?”
Zine pulled out a hoof full of black seeds as he smiled, “An ancient delicacy. I’m actually surprised Spike was able to find these to be honest. I thought this plant went extinct centuries ago.”
Gem was curious, “Really? Is it some kind of ingredient in one of your spells?”
Zine nodded, “Well, sort of. But in actuality. It’s just a tasty little snack.”
With that, Zine tossed a few seeds in his mouth as he started chewing them. Then shortly after, he swallowed as he spoke, “Ew… they are a little… stale. But I guess I'll just use them for my spell then.”
Then Zine started reading the note from Spike as Cirrus spoke, “looks like General Dash was able to contact all of his branches… although four had fallen before he was able to get to them.”
Gem Stone asked, “Will the battle plan still work without them?”
Cirrus started to reply, “It should… but with the numbers cut down as they are we will ne-”
Before Cirrus could finish, Zine quickly jumped up as he quickly trotted to a nearby bookshelf and started muttering to himself, “Let’s see… Sleep spell, sleep spell, slee- ah here we are.”
With that Zine picked up the book and started his search again, “Spirits, spirits, spir- Here!”
Zine picked up another book as he started searching for one last book, “Medicine, medi-” he looked at Madam Melody, “Um… you would have any books on medicine mixing would you?”
Madam Melody gave him a strange look as she trotted to another bookshelf and pulled a book out, “Vell, I have zis.”
Zine trotted towards Madam Melody dropping the note without noticing as he took the book, read the cover, and nodded, “That should work, thanks.”
With that Zine trotted to a nearby table as he laid all three books down on a table and spoke, “Alright… I need three rose pedals, four blueberries, and a dead vine. It doesn’t matter what kind.”
Madam Melody nodded as she looked at a nearby maid and spoke, “Can you acquire zese zings?”
The maid bowed her head, “Oui madam.”
With that the maid left the room as Gem trotted to the note that Zine had dropped as she picked it up and read it aloud, “Dear Zine, I found the book you were looking for in castle of the pony sister’s library. I don’t understand what it means, but you need a combination of two spells and a separate mixture to do what you’re planning. But be careful the word coma and braindead comes up often in the warning tab-”
Without even the urge to finish the note, Gem Stone looked at Zine as she asked, “Zine? What’s this about?”
Zine smiled as he started skimming through the three books he pulled out, “No need to worry about it… this spell isn’t for you… well not you specifically.”
Gem was concerned, “Not me… then who.”
Zine looked at Cirrus as he smiled, “Who indeed.”
Not understanding what he meant, Cirrus gave him a clueless look, “What?”
Without explanation, Zine replied, “Do not worry Captain… all will be answered come tomorrow morning.”
Gem could only give him a clueless look as Cirrus nodded, “Alright… let’s get back to training then. Captain?”
Nodding her head, Gem Stone could only sigh, “Fine… then we won’t get involved.”
Although he didn’t say it out loud, Zine mumbled quietly as Gem and Cirrus went back to training, “No you shouldn’t… not yet anyways.”
Later that evening in the same room, Cirrus stood as arcs of electricity jumped from his hooves and onto the ground as the arcs faded and he sat down in exhaustion. As he tried to catch his breath, Allium and Jet who were now watching from the side cheered for Cirrus as Gem Stone smiled, “Good commander, you were able to hold it for twenty minutes that time. I doubt you will need to have that cloud there for that long, but at least you have the stamina for it. Needless to say, you have control over it now… sort of.”
Cirrus nodded as he replied, “Well, if anything I can handle the lightning without fainting… anymore.”
Zine was grinding some ingredients into a powder as he smiled, “Third times a charm… Either way, you won’t go winning any wars, but you know that the Lightning Orb can be used… in dire emergencies at least.”
Gem Stone gave Zine an annoyed look, “Hey, at least knows how to create the cloud and channel the lightning through his hooves… I’m sure he will get to control the direction of the bolt… eventually.”
With that, Zine looked at the three burn marks on the floor, the two in the ceiling and the one charred bookcase as he nodded, “Yea… eventually. Till then, I'd prefer to stand in front of you if you ever decide to use it again. Most likely that’s the safest place to be.”
With that the two foals in the room started giggling amongst themselves as Madam Melody put away a fire extinguisher as she cleared her throat, “Yes… vell… perhaps next time ve should practice outside.” She looked at the two foals as she spoke, “Now come along you two. Ve have a long day tomorrow and you need your rest.”
Both foals looked at Madam Melody wined as Jet replied, “Aww I wanted to stay up.”
Allium added, “Can we stay up, pleeeease! I promise we’ll be good.”
Zine smiled, “Sure you can stay up… but if you do I'll have to tell you another bedtime story.”
Madam Melody looked at him as she replied, “No… zey both had nightmares from ze story you told zem last night.”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “What can I say, when you see as many greatest fears as I have you don’t need to think up a story, you just tell of the fears and what they did to the ponies. But then again I could sugarcoat this one. How about putting a cotton candy cloud raining chocolate milk in the background.”
Cirrus started to think to himself, “Why does that sound familiar?”
The two foals immediately changed their mind as they both replied at the same time, “No, we’ll go to bed. Good night Halo, Ms. Stone, and Zine!”
The two foals quickly left the room as Madam Melody smiled, “Perhaps your stories have value after all. I could alvays use zeir irregularities as motivation for zem to do as zey are told.”
Zine gave her a funny look, “Irregularity? I'd prefer to use a much more simple word… I honestly like to call it Discord. But then again, I suppose it’s a little over used by now.”
Madam Melody chuckled, “If you say so, vell I shall put zem to bed now, bonne nuit commander, Captain, and Zine.”
Zine nodded as he went back to grinding the herbs, “Bone-ya-eat to you too.”
Everypony gave Zine a confused look as Gem spoke, “Um… Zine… that means goodnight.”
Cirrus replied to Madam Melody, “Good night major. Remember, tomorrow at dawn, we will meet the officers of the riots here then proceed with the plan by noon. Will you be ready?”
Madam Melody nodded her head, “Oui preparations are already finished, ze plan vill go unhindered.”
Gem Stone nodded, “Good… let’s hope everything falls into place like it should.”
Zine nodded his head, “It will… at least until we are inside the castle walls… after that, we can only hope.”
Taking this as more of his unexplained rambling, Madam Melody nodded as she replied, “Zen I vill leave you to get some rest.”
With that Madam Melody left the room as Cirrus spoke, “Well, I guess I'll call it a night too. Good night Gem, Zine. I'll see you two in the morning.”
The two nodded as Gem replied, “Rest easy Cirrus.”
Then, just after Cirrus had left the room, Zine spoke, “Captain… can you stay here for a sec… there is something we need to discuss.”
Gem turned to him as he reached into a nearby bag, “Sure, what’s up?”
Zine pulled out an odd looking arrow, that seemed normal, but at the end where the arrow head was supposed to sit was a round stone that was expertly crafted into the shaft. As Gem took the arrow, she asked, “What’s this?”
Zine replied, “That my archer friend, is an arrow of my own design. And that stone… is the very stone used to banish my ancestor from the kingdom of Equestria, almost six hundred years ago.”
Gem studied the stone as she replied, “Okay… what exactly is it?”
Zine replied as he went back to his work, “It’s called an Everstone. It is a special relic that has the ability to render all spiritual magic null and void.”
Gem asked in curiosity, “Spiritual? Like how?”
Zine replied, “For example, any changeling that touches that stone would have their transforming ability removed. That’s how my ancestor Zeil was banished. In another way, any creatures that had abilities to cast magical spells would temporarily lose said ability. For example, Unicorns or the more nessisary…” He smiled sinisterly, “Alicorns?”
Gem smiled, “Ah… I get it. You want me to use this against Thundaga don’t you?”
Zine nodded, “Yes I do… but that won’t help much. Remember, Thundaga is a warrior princess. She won’t need magic to win in a fight.”
Gem nodded as she tucked the arrow under her wing, “Duly noted. Anything else?”
Zine’s mood turned dark as he replied, “As a matter of fact… yes. Miss Stone?... did you know that the commander has been speaking with… your old mentor?”
Gem Stone thought she heard him wrong as she replied with a joking smile, “Wait… what?...”
Zine replied, “What I mean is, our commander, Commander Halo. Has had a number of late night visits from, Commander Bolt… but not in the way that it sounded… the um… other way. The way on which they merely talked to one another while he slept. You know… in his dreams.”
Gem Stone’s smile faded as she thought to herself and clarified, “You mean… Cirrus has been speaking to Commander Bolt in his sleep?”
Zine nodded his head, “Mhm”
“Why hasn’t he said anything about it?”
Zine replied as he finished grinding the herbs and placed the mixture in a pan of water, “Well, perhaps he’s been unsure as to how you would react. Since, we all know you used to hold feelings for the late commander. Perhaps he thought that telling you would offend you in some way. Or the more logical reason is that he is unsure as to whether it’s real or just his imagination. But what really matters is this… Lately, the commander, your ex-boss has been giving him a… I want to say order, but more of a request that the recent commander is… questioning.”
Gem Stone was concerned, “What order?”
Zine replied as he started mixing the ingredients, “Commander Bolt wants Commander Halo, to kill Thundaga.”
Gem Stone gave him an unsure look, “And… Cirrus said no?... Why?”
Zine continued with a careless expression, “Cirrus believes there is a way of winning this fight without killing her. He says that there is good inside of her and he believes that he can save her somehow.”
Gem Stone shook her head as she tried to understand, “Wait a second… Did Commander Bolt give this order before or after Cirrus thought up this strategy?”
Zine shrugged his shoulders, “My understanding is that he thought it up after the order was given.”
Gem smiled in relief, “Then what’s there to worry about? If Cirrus thought up this plan after, then he took the order into consideration and most likely planed for it, right? So obviously we shouldn’t worry about it since it’s just part of Cirrus’s plan.”
Zine nodded his head in agreement to the comment, but replied in an objecting tone, “Sure, that sounds logical… however…”
Gem gave him a curious look, “However?...”
Zine stopped stirring the mixture as he looked at her and replied, “That was before I received a message of my own last night.”
“Message?... from Zecora?”
Zine shook his head, “No… Zeil.”
Gem Stone looked at him in surprise, “Zeil?... the same Zeil who was responsible for your imprisonment?”
Zine pointed at his staff leaning against the wall as he replied, “That, and the potion in that staff there. Yes. The same Zeil.”
Gem was concerned, “But… he hasn’t giving you a vision since… you were a foal.”
Zine nodded his head as he had a troubled look on his face, “Yea… you’re right…”
Gem asked with curiosity, “Well, what did he say?”
Zine looked at Gem with a troubled glance before turning back to his mixture and replying, “He mentioned the fight tomorrow… and… how commander Halo’s plan to save everypony… will fail.”
Gem Stone was now worried, “What?... but… how?”
Zine replied as he tried to distract himself by mixing the mixture again, “He didn’t go into specifics… but… he said that two lives would end tomorrow. Or at least… two lives within the castle walls.”
Gem was too shocked to show much expression as she asked, “Who?...”
Zine sighed as he shook his head, “I… I don’t know… could be Thundaga’s and the commander. Could be you, me, and Thundaga… could be you, me, and the commander.”
Gem was confused, “You, me, and Cirrus… that’s three lives.”
Zine shook his head as he looked at her with a convincing expression, “You and I count as one… remember?”
Gem Stone felt worried as she sat down and looked at the floor in deep thought, “Whoa… this… this is… troubling… does… does the commander know?”
Zine shook his head, “I thought it would be best if he didn’t. He’s not used to dealing with distractions like this. So I felt it better that he faced tomorrow with a clear mind.”
Gem nodded her head in agreement, “Yea… you’re right. It would be best to keep this from him. But… are you sure he was right about this?”
Zine looked back at the ingredients in front of him as he sighed, “He may have led me astray when I was young… but nothing he said back then or today was proven to be false. So yea… I would guarantee that his words are true.”
Gem rubbed her head in worry as she replied, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.” She sighed, “So… what should we do?”
Zine replied as he started working on his spell again, “Well… the fact of it is that there will be two lives lost, but we don’t know who’s. So, if we can make one of them ours… then… we can minimize the chances of the second one being the commanders. That is… if you’re willing to go through the sacrifice.”
Gem Stone took a deeper sigh as she hesitated before replying, “If it could save him… then… I'll do it. But only after I can guarantee that the second one won’t be Cirrus.”
Zine nodded his head in agreement as he replied, “Alright… then in order for that to happen. We have to kill Thundaga ourselves.”
“What?”
Zine explained, “The commander’s plan is to reach Thundaga and convincer her to give up without a fight, right? Well, if Thundaga is the mare I know she is, then this plan won’t work, and that would end with the commander dying under her hoof. So, the best thing we can do, is find a way to kill her before the commander has a chance to try and spare her.”
Gem Stone shook her head in disagreement, “But how are we supposed to do that? Once we cross the castle walls, we will be together the entire time.”
Zine nodded his head, “Well there is only one time where we might separate.”
“When?”
Zine smiled as he turned to her, “Think about it… remember the plan. As soon as we are inside, we make our way to the castle gates and find a way to open them and lock them open. Then we make our way to Thundaga leaving the gates open for the rebellion to enter when they fight their way there right?”
Gem nodded, “Yea, so?”
Zine taped the table, “The commander and I will focus on getting the gate open and locking it, while you volunteer to hold off anypony who might attack us from the castle.”
Gem was concerned, “Wait… you mean, abandon you two to face Thundaga while you try to open the gate?”
Zine nodded, “Precisely, although I wouldn’t so much as call it abandon, rather… take the initiative to face Thundaga.”
Gem Stone shook her head, “No matter how you put it, I’m disobeying Cirr- The commander’s orders.”
Zine shook his head, “Now, now, it’s not an order if you volunteer. Basically you are only telling him what you’re going to do, and deciding to do something else. I do it all the time, it’s quite fun actually.”
Gem Stone shook her head, “I’m still disobeying his trust. I can’t do that. As second in command of Nightmare Legion I ca-”
“You’re thinking too much like a soldier… remember I’m willing to give my life too. I could just disagree with this whole plan and ignore it, but let’s face it… Death brings death, so somepony must die right? Are you really going to take your moral as a soldier over your own feeling? I thought you were better than that… Captain Gem Stone.”
Gem Stone was shocked by his dark tone as she tried to replay, “I… um… well…”
Zine looked back at his work, “This is why I told you not to get too attached. I didn’t know this would happen, but I did assume it might. So now we have to make a decision… us? Or him?”
Gem Stone didn’t replay, instead she sat silently thinking over what he said as Zine sighed, “I know it’s a hard decision to make… and to be honest, I don’t like our options either… but it has to be made… and soon. Take the night to think it over, but don’t tell me your answer. I think that it would be best if you just make your decision out there tomorrow. That way both our minds can be clear. So until then… get some rest… and put that arrow with your others. No matter what the decision, we will need it for the fight.”
Gem nodded her head as she stood up and replied, “Sure… I'll um… I'll take good care of it. Um… well… good night.”
As Gem Stone trotted to the door to leave she paused just before exiting, “You know Zine… I never told you this, but in the past few days… I have been grateful for what you did… so… for bringing me back… from the dead I mean… um Thanks.”
Zine smiled peacefully “Thank you Miss Stone… for what it’s worth. I’m happy to share a life with you. Even if… it might be ending soon.”